The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1887-11-17
Millions Of Treasure.

One of the most unpretentious build
ings on Wall street, says the New York
Commercial AdUertlser, is the United
States assay office, which stands in the
shadow or rather under the wing of
the sub-treasury. Its plain, old-fash-
ioned stone front gives no token of the
boards of solid wealth within. One of
the most unassuming and affable gen.
tlemen on Wall street is Andrew j.
Mason, the superintendent of the assay
office. One would hardly think to see
him that more gold and silver passes
through mis- hands each year than is
handled by any other one man in the
United States, or for that matter in
the world. The assay office is the fun
mel through which the precious metals
of the country pass before they enter
the commercial world. From every
quarter of the United States daily
shipments are received of gold, sill
yer, and the baser metals that cling so
tenaclously to the more valuable pro-
ducts, and are here melted, separated,
refined, and marked with the all-im-
portant stamp of the United States.
Mr.. Mason gave bit of interesting
4hicA ~ ICpOl ltI
yesterday concerning the disposition
country. More than $24,000,000 in
gold has been received in this port
alone since the 23d of July.
Nearly all of the gold sent here
from foreign countries" said Mr.. Ma
son, ''comes to this office. Much of it
comes to us direct from the steamers
even before it goes into the hands of
consignees. All of this gold is melted
and cast into bars, except Spanish and
Mexican doubloons and American
coins, only the lightweight pieces of
which find their way into the melting
crucibles."
'Do you make no exceptions either
of English bars or bars marked with
your own stamps?"
''No, English, French, and even our
own bars, together with all foreign
coins, are subject to the same treat
ment, first assayed and then cast into
new bars and stamped to indicate their
tineness and value"
why do you resmelt American bars
that already bear the assayer's stamp?"
Because we believe it to be the
safer course to pursue. 1t obviates
any chance of fraud or deception, and
foreign merchants are better satisfied
when they know that the same bar
is never reissued from this office"
''Do other governments resmelt our
bars also?"
Not always. If they did we should
not receive so many of our issue back
England resmelts good many, but in
France they generally accept them as
they are"
But is not the cost of resmelting
and the loss consequent upon the oper-
alton heavy?"
''On the contrary, it is very slight.
The cost for remelting, testing, and
casting into new standard bars is only
lilo of per cent. an ounce, while the
loss is infnitesima!."
While Supt. Mason was talking
heavy dray backed up to the door of the
assay office and commenced to unload
great silver bricks and little, heavy,
iron-bound boxes containing gold.
The reporter followed the boxes into
the receiving room, where they were
opened after a great deal of trouble.
The contents consisted of gold bars,
old gold coins, and in one instance a
tin box of gold dust. All of this
precious material was taken out and
weighed on scales SO delicately bal
anced that a grain of dust would
disturb the balance. Each lot was
dumped into separate box to wait its
turn for the test by fire as to its purity
before it again did duty as measure
of value.